ERIC Number: EJ1098299
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1081-3004
EISSN: N/A
A Counterstory of One's Own: Using Counterstorytelling to Engage Students With the British Canon
Bissonnette, Jeanne Dyches; Glazier, Jocelyn
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, v59 n6 p685-694 May-Jun 2016
Nationwide, virtually all secondary students interact with British literature, a traditionally Anglo, white, male canon. Yet, this revered curriculum provides few mirrors for students from historically marginalized populations to see their own cultures reflected. In this reflective practitioner piece, the authors first illustrate how counterstorytelling--a practice emerging from critical race theory--can break open the canon. Because counterstorytelling invites, values, and projects marginalized voices, when incorporated into the secondary English classroom, the practice helps engage students with the material while developing and honing their literacy skills. Second, the authors detail a lesson demonstrating that the canon and counterstorytelling can work synergistically. Throughout the article, the authors attend to the challenges of using an equity pedagogy to teach a canon that functions as the majoritarian story of the secondary literacy classroom--and society at large. Finally, the authors offer strategies for effectively incorporating counterstorytelling into the secondary English classroom.
Descriptors: Learner Engagement, Secondary School Students, Literacy, Story Telling, Critical Theory, Interaction, English Literature, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Race
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A